Forgive and Forget
by luvniki
Summary: The battle between peers begins with broken friendships and emotional pain. Verbal and physical bullying comes in and demolishes Daniela, how does she deal with the humiliation, the pain and Kat? To top it off, a dose of cyber oppression is thrown her way, only then does she realize the better method, the method that wins.


**The challenging life under teenage oppression only reminds that silence can beat violence, anytime**

**Niki Bruysters**

**Forgive and Forget**

Contents

The Beginning Page 3

Ready to Party? Page 12

Brutal Celebration Page 20

Doubt and Strength Page 33

Cafeteria Disaster Page 39

Another Scare Page 45

Attempt to Understand Page 49

Silence over Violence Page 53

Chapter 1

It all began in my freshman year at Kings College. The freedom from the cage of my mother was extraordinary. Excitement blew through my icy blonde hair as I walked through the corridors of independence. My life was about to change, my life was no longer going to be tortured and controlled by teenage superiors, my life was now in full swing for success. Nothing could go wrong, nothing. Well that's what I thought.

"What happened grandma?" my sweet Natalia asked me. "Did something bad happen on your first day? Were those mean girls you always talk about from your high school there?"

"No, no my dear child, things were going fine." I gently tell her as I pat her smooth brown hair. "Now let me get back to the story, its only just starting dearie".

I wasn't a beautiful butterfly when I was young; most people told me that my mother should have never given birth to me. Nobody really wanted to be my friend. Neither wa foot tall model with a torso so thin. I was an average, what do you call it these days, "nerd". I wore crazy circular glasses which made my green marbles look like they were popping out of their sockets and I also loved colorful clothing so I would attract attention from people passing by. I still remember what I was wearing, a large and bright yellow t-shirt which had the words 'Edward and Bella forever!'

"Hahaha, you were a twilight fan?" Natalia giggled. "I never ever thought of u liking any type of movie. Everyone now says that twilight and all that magical vampires and werewolf stuff is a big joke, but to be honest I like it no matter what others say, especially Jacob." Her braces shined at the sound of the character's name, I chuckled. Nat's grin disappeared as she told me never to tell anyone, or else.

I cleared my throat and said "that's great darling, it's great to know you aren't persuaded by your peers. I sometime wish I could go back in time and change my actions, but I think again and say, if my actions were different, things would be different now. And I definitely don't want things to change, things are perfect now." I smile a short smile. Then I realize I had gone off track.

I wasn't very rich either; however I aced my subjects in high school and was able to get a scholarship. My college was my dream college. Just the view from the window to the football pitch was mesmerizing and the day was fresh and full of life. The sky was blue filled with birds chirping, spring is here, all this from a window of the girl's dorm. I still remember the crooked smile I made walking down the hall.

Suddenly a girl tapped on my shoulder. "Hi, my name is Leila and I am a sophomore here at Kings College and by the looks of it you seem like you haven't found your room yet" she reached for my hand to shake. I gladly shook it. She was beautiful with long, thick curly brown hair. Her eyes gleamed bright brown. She was also super tall, I envied her so much. I wished I had long hair, I wished I was model like tall and I wished I had her bone structure. Taking in all of her appearance I didn't realize we were standing next to each other in total silence for at least 10 seconds. "Hello?" she waved her hands at my face snapping me out of delusion.

"Oh umm, my name is Daniela and yes I am having trouble finding" I stutter and check the key in my hand "room 217, would you mind helping me? I am kind of new here, well I am new and there isn't any signs here saying, Daniela turn right." I replied with my cheeks blushing, I didn't think someone would actually want to help someone like me. Things were changing for the good.

Leila bursts out laughing which I definitely found strange but I didn't mind, I laughed along with her. "Well I'm here for a reason so let's go" As we walk down the crystal clear white painted floor we turned left. On our stroll, I guess to avoid silent awkwardness Leila asked questions anyone would ask to get to know a person. "So where are you from?"

"I am from Texas" I answer "it's a really nice place, have you ever been there?" I question.

"Cool place, but no I have never been there, sorry!" Leila replies. "So are your parents there now?"

I harshly jerk myself to a stop, just the thought of my parent's instantly changed my mood "Where's my room? Shouldn't we be there by now?" I rudely ask Leila

"Oh whoops, we just passed it, it is just 2 rooms behind so sorry, I guess I got distracted" Leila smirks. "What wrong though?"

"That's alright and it really isn't your business to know about it." I say with my head facing down. I quickly turn around and before I could even react I accidently bump into another girl behind me and spilt her coffee all over her t-shirt. I gasped. She had beach blonde hair with baby blue eyes. Her mouth was wide open as well. By the look of what she was wearing, a tight, belly showing top which revealed a lot of her body, a short pink, flowery mini skirt with matching red stilettoes. She must have been a really popular girl and by the looks of the two girls behind her, she must have been the most popular girl in the school and I just spilt her, what looked to have been Starbucks black coffee. I had just ruined a channel handbag in the process as well, I was dead.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I didn't mean it I was…" she cuts me of the movement of her finger. There was a large crowd around us all with their cell phones out and pointed at us. The pressure was high, I was wondering what my punishment would be.

The girl seemed like she was holding in her anger as she planted a wide smile on her face and said "Why hello freshmen, that's a great greeting. Since it's your first day I'll cut you some slack and all you have to do is come to my party." The girl hands me an envelope, probably an invitation I thought. "Don't be late and bring your bikini, ciao honey" she flings her hand at me as she struts passed.

In shock I couldn't even think of a suitable reaction I just stood there with my mouth on the floor. "Wait, wait! Let me at least pay for the laundry!" I yell, but unfortunately was ignored. I shrug and turn back to Leila. She looked really surprised. "What is it?" I asked Leila.

"Kat has never been that nice to anyone, like ever, especially when she has coffee all over her and her favorite channel handbag." Leila responded. "Neither has she ever invited a person that has spilt coffee over her to her very own party! Great so you want to go together! I got an invite too. It is going to be so fun! Haha" she says as she skips chirpily back down to help another freshman.

Wow life was turning out great in college. On my very first day I scored a possible best friend and possibly great reputation. With a wacky smile on my face I enter my room. When the door opened my smile had faded as simply as wiping a car window on a rainy day. What I could see in front of me were two Goth's and one of them was piercing the other ones earring. Blood oozed out of her pink tongue, which looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a really long time. Both girls had raven like black hair drooping down until their backsides. They wore heavy, studded shoes along with leather black jackets. These girls looked damn scary at the time and what they were doing truly boggled my brains.

None of them seemed to have realized that someone, me, had walked into the room. I got closer to what they were doing and plopped my checkered backpack on my bed. Still staring at them I got a better look at their faces, twins. The first twins I had ever seen in my life. I always imagined twins being really alike but this was abnormal. Almost every feature they had was identical and it was really uncouth. They both had black eyes which were still visible even in the dark room we were in. They both had sharp noses and full of life lips. They both had at least 5 piercings on each ear. The only things that people could differentiate from them were their rose pink and baby blue dip dyes. They had amazing curly hair, which expressed the color all too well.

I sat on my bed and watched in disgust until I couldn't bear to look any further. I grabbed my iPod and plugged in my earphones. I turned the volume up till there were no sounds that could enter and derail my train of thoughts. Music was the one place I could escape the world and all its insanity. When people called me horrid names and labeled me, I ran to music. When people yanked on my hair and laughed till they nearly fainted, I survived with music. When I felt there was nothing left for me in this world, music saved me.

"You seemed really attached to this entire music stuff grandma, you never really mention anything about music anymore."

"Well that's true," I answer still dazed in my story. "But there was a time when music was my life and there was nothing that was better. I still remember what that song was, my all-time favorite, You Can't Win by Kelly Clarkson." I say with a smile. "Anyways where was I."

With the music pounding sweet rhythm and melody, I started a bit of a hum. The girls then realized my entrance. It all happened really fast as if they were embarrassed. The girl with the blue dye quickly touched up her sister's tongue, cleaned her hands and went over to greet me.

"Hi my name is Jenny." The girl, presumably my roommate, extends her hand for a handshake. I shake with a greeting smile but terrified eyes. Jenny's dark eyeliner was really heavy and took up most of her face. "Haha don't worry I'm not evil, I'm just a little bit different I suppose" She says with a slight giggle. "And this is my sister Jamie and we are from Korea if you hadn't guessed the Korean posters of 'K-pop' everywhere."

Jamie turns around and shakes my hand as well, one hand to shake with and the other to hold her bloody tissue to her tongue. She murmured something that I couldn't understand and neither did Jenny. I just guess she said it's nice to meet you so I nodded. There was an awkward silence after that.

"So I have to apologize for what you had to witness, I didn't even greet you with a nice greeting, I fail at this" Jenny says with her quite rough and low voice.

"Oh no it is alright, I am cool with absurd stuff. As long as it doesn't mean getting in trouble" I said with a calm tone.

"Well then that's great because we are pretty crazy and the school thinks that as well, so if you want a reputation I guess you shouldn't really be seen with us outside this room. Just a heads up" Jamie says while throwing the tissue into the rubbish bin. "I mean after all nobody likes us, even when we tried making friends with people, nothing really changed." Jamie says with a similar tone to Jenny except for sadder.

"Haha that's alright, I'm not really a popular girl either so I think we can be great friends." I state as I punch my fist in the air for a dramatic affect. Noticing the strange faces the twins were making I knew I had to change the subject. "So, which one of you is my roommate?"

"I am, unfortunately" says Jamie looking really upset about me staying with her.

"Oh well I hope we will be great friends and have an awesome time together" I say joyfully with a tense smile on my face, hoping she wouldn't be mad. I never really understood why Jamie didn't like my presence. Was I too different, was I too loud or was I just annoying.

"Well grandma, it is getting kind of late and I think I should go to bed now," Natalia yawns with her eyes drooping from her sockets. She looked just like me, when I was her age, when I was young and full of life. It is sad how life withers with time and how the memories seem so far from grasp these days. With the thought in my mind my little doll cuddles up with her octopus stuffed animal and disappears from reality in an instance. I hope she dreamed amazing dreams, dreams where she was powerful, beautiful and strong. Where nothing could hurt her and she was an infinite goddess of creativity.

I kiss her forehead goodnight and sneak out of her room. I stood there peaking in on her from the door. Only if I could go back in time and experience things once again, I would be able to alter my decisions and maybe alter the end result. I closed the door behind me and went to my rocking chair, the chair I had grown up with. I remember this chair when my mother sat on it and told me stories of her life. The way she swayed back and forth made me feel as if she was an angel on a unicorn. I sat and I knitted, sad how things can be as easily taken from your mind as the parents of a young girl. She didn't know her parents weren't coming back, she didn't think that their souls had left the planet, and she definitely never thought that her childhood would be a tragic love song.

Chapter 2

A few nights later I sat again by Natalia's bedside and continued the story of my life. I tucked her into her pink and green blanket and she sank her head into, what she called it, Mr. Dream pillow. As soon as she got comfortable I began me tale.

I spent my first few days in College with ease. There were no tricks and teases anyone had given me. People were kind and offered me snacks in classes. Things were going good so far but I hadn't made a friend. Jamie and I hadn't connected after her sister, Jenny left when I first arrived. She often stayed in her corner of darkness and listened to heavy rock music. We never really talked so I began reading to absorb the loneliness I felt. As I was reading one day I had stumbled on an envelope containing an invitation to Kat's party. I read the details on the card and it said August 28th, which surprisingly was today. In a panic I quickly ran out of my dorm and searched for Leila.

Speaking of Leila, I hadn't seen her since the first day of school. She never really appeared down the hall or anywhere in the school. I had almost forgotten about her completely. I asked countless of people in a hurry to find her and finally a guy said that she was swimming.

"Swimming pool?" Natalia asked in shock. "Your school had a swimming pool, that's really cool grandma!"

I agreed and continued with the story. Once I reached the swimming pool I could easily spot Leila because there was not another human body there. The swimming pool was large and I didn't understand why there wasn't anyone there. The pool was of bright and good condition with shimmering waters and ripples from Leila's butterfly strokes. She seemed in the zone and I couldn't think of a way to talk to her. I rushed to the side she was on and walked next to her as she swam. She didn't notice me even when I was yelling her name. So I decided to sit and wait until she had finished as I didn't feel like I should interrupt.

As I sat on one of the benches I plugged my earphones in and began to play a song, P.Y.T by Michael Jackson, a beautifully upbeat song that could easily get anyone to dance. I sat there humming the lyrics to the song and watched Leila move up and down the pool with total tranquility. She was like a mermaid in her black one-piece bathing suit. I just watched and watched and watched and watched her. Until finally she came out for a breather, she walked straight to me. Her legs were so long and her hair dripped with chlorine. I could hear her panting as she walked to me. She mumbled something to me which I couldn't really hear. I realized I still had my earphones in my ears.

"Oh sorry I didn't hear what you said; I had my music to the max volume." I apologize.

"Haha that's alright, I just said why are you here? How are your first few days? Do you like it here? Have you met any guys yet?" Questions came fumbling out of her mouth and I stuttered trying to think of an answer as fast as she asked. I replied and said that yes I was liking it here so far, no I haven't met any guys yet and then I explained why I came to see her.

"So do you remember the day when you said we would go to Kat's party together? Isn't that day today" I ask shyly.

"Yep, today is the day we get our partaaaaaay on!" Leila says dancing to the 'partay'. "What are you so worried about?"

I chuckled and answered "well the thing is that this is my first ever party and I was wondering if you could help me, you know, pick out what to wear and stuff." I stood up waiting for her response. I kept twisting my hair, one of the habits I have in awkward situations.

"Your first party? OMG!" Leila says in shock. "Quick come with me then, I'll help you." She tugs my arm and pulls me all the way to her room, 294. She opens the door to her room and it is the exact opposite to what my room looked like. Her room had pictures of family and bright curtains along with decorations hanging nearly everywhere. I entered the room amazed and I could tell that Leila was a big fan of world famous pop singer, Justin Bieber. His posters hang everywhere, even on the ceiling.

"Welcome to my room, my roommate isn't here right now so we got lots of space. I think you can probably guess that I am a big Bieber fan and that I love colors!" Leila says as she grabs a towel and wraps her hair into it. "We haven't much time so you can pick out some clothes from my closet." Leila points to her closet, with her head still in her towel. "I need to go and take a shower, so you can pick out anything and I will give my opinions later." She jumps into the bathroom and I am left in the room alone.

I open her closet and out poured a wave of clothing, seemed to me that she doesn't really organize her clothing. Everything was in a mess and it was hard to tell if something was even a dress or t shirt. I dug into the pile and found something's that I found quite pretty in the end, a plain H and M t shirt that everyone wears and a pair of ombre shorts. I liked the combination, bright, fun and really pretty. I went through a couple more pieces of clothing until Leila came out of the shower, wrapped in a towel she asked if I had found anything. She even looked beautiful in just a towel, her legs were tanned and smooth and her hair fell down onto her body like vines from a tree. I replied and showed her the clothing I had picked out for the party.

"Hmm," Leila said while inspecting my choice. "It's nice, I would know since it is mine, but I doesn't really scream 'hey guys I'm here to party', I think you need something with more of a wow factor, something like…. a-ha this!" she pulls out a short and tight full on black dress. It was pretty and I thought it was fine until I saw the back. It was a bear back complemented with black and maroon lace.

"Wow its very revealing, are you sure I should wear this? What if it is a casual party?" I ask nervously to Leila.

"Relax D, I have been to these parties before and Kat usually likes the formal 'club' kind of theme. So trust me you will look hot in this dress and totally match what Kat wants." Leila says fitting the dress to my body. "Go try it on."

In the bathroom I could still feel the hot steam from Leila's shower and I could still small the rose essence of the shampoo she used. Either way I stripped to my undergarments and put on the dress. Surprisingly it fit but was quite long and showed a bit of my stomach. Embarrassed to go outside to see Leila's reaction I just yell from the door that it fits. I knew that I couldn't bear wearing such a dress to my first party ever. I pictured all the people from the party laughing at me because of what I wore. The dress was too long and my white bra showed through the sexy black lace. It totally defeated the whole feeling of being sexy. I stepped out of the bathroom anyway to see what Leila had to say.

Surprisingly all she had to say were good things about how I looked. She said that if I just tuck the dress in, my legs looked elongated and that the dress didn't make my stomach look like a melon but like a thing shaped pear. I started to see the positive sides of the dress, but it still didn't excuse my white bra from showing.

"I think you look great" Leila compliments. "Now for the finishing touch all you need is an awesome necklace and a great hairdo." She pulls out Bobbi pins from her drawer and gestures at me telling me to sit. I sat as instructed and she began to play with my hair. She pulled my hair and pinned it out high. The end result was neatly done French braid to the side. Leila then yanks one of her necklaces from her supposed to be coat hanger but instead held accessories.

"Here, this is the perfect necklace that I have that will go with this dress." She says as she places it around my neck. She was right it was beautiful. It was bright golden with had a pink lily on it. "Now you are ready for a kick ass party! I can't wait. Oh I have to go get changed as well." She pounced onto the mound of clothes and dug through it like a hungry hyena. After a little while of searching she comes out with a flower patterned, strapless dress that hung all the way down to her ankles. When she put it on she looked like the princess of Narnia and with her hair in curls the look was magnified 10 times more. I envied her so much.

The party only started at 8 o'clock so we had at least an hour before we had to begin our journey to Kat's, presumably huge mansion. So we sat and we chatted.

"So hey, why did you get all stiff and nervous when I mentioned your family the other day?" Leila asked inquisitively. My heart sank once again. My breath started to speed up. Just by the mentioning of the word family my whole body had tensed up like a fish out of water. I replied anyway.

"Well," I stutter, "my parents were the best people I have ever known in my entire life." I paused, "they never missed a single one of the talent shows I was in when I was a child until one dreadful day. My mother had to leave the country on a business trip, so it was just my father and I at home, or that's what my 6 year old self had thought." I paused again; I could feel the tears building up behind my eyes. I hated that feeling when I wasn't able to let out my true emotions. "My father invited one of his work friends home one night and things got going. They went into the room and all I could hear were pleasurable releases of air and the wooden boards of my parent's bed creaking. Curious, my 6 year old self opened the door and ran into my parent's closet unseen. Through a crack I saw them; I saw them on the bed. I had never known my father was such a man, but at the time I didn't know what was happening so I thought everything was fine like a normal little girl would. So I opened the closet and my father's friend saw me. She yelled at the top of her vocal chords and kicked my father off of her. When my father saw me he immediately put on his robe and yanked me by my ear and dragged me back to my room. I had already started crying when I got to my room. I didn't know what was happening."

"Wow… that's really sad. I'm so sorry I made you tell me." Leila says in a sorrowful voice.

"No don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong," I say with a short smile to comfort her. I could feel my heart aching against my chest as the memories came back into my mind like a rushing flood. "But that's not all that happened that night." Leila gasps. "With my father and me in one room he throws me on the bed and yells at me. He says that I should always knock and not to disturb him when he has a guest over. Still sobbing at the time my father got angry and swung his fist on my face. That 6 year old Daniela stopped crying for just a while and when I continued more and more lunges of powerful fists pounded at my flesh. He told me never to tell my mother and to go to bed. I did what he said, I cried myself to sleep that night as I heard the continuous sounds from the room next door. No one was there to comfort me." I sigh as I lift my hand to where I remember my father thrust his power against my useless face. "This happened every time when my mother left the country, always with another girl. I promised to keep my promise until my 16th birthday. I told my mother what had happened and as quickly as I told her my parents had split. I have been living with my mother ever since."

"That is so sad. I'm so sorry." Leila leans in for a southing hug. Her arms around me and the comfort of her warmth was what made the tears fall. Someone was there for me now and I was finally happy. She held me in her arms for quite a while before I calmed down. My eyes were swollen and pink when all the feelings I kept bolted up in my head came flushing out.

"Promise me you will never tell anyone, promise." I say sniffling.

"I promise and it will never be broken." Leila said as she came in for another hug.

"I never knew your parents had an affair grandma. I always thought they lived happily together." Natalia stated.

"Yes my dearie, not all people show what is going on in their lives through their faces, sometimes people need to dig through all the other things to find the truth." I reply. "Well this is all for today goodnight honey"

"Goodnight grandma." Natalia says as I walk to turn off the lights. "I love you."

"I love you too dearie" I reply with a calm and sleepy tone.

Chapter 3

Natalia came rushing into the kitchen the next day after school, "Hi grandma I'm back, quick I really want to know what happens in the party." I gave a slight chuckle, as finished up slicing the carrot for the soup and answered.

"Well, I hope you had a great day, now I will tell you what happens once you get washed up." I instructed her. She pouts but dashes up the stairs to the bathroom, her brown hair bouncing each step she took. While Natalia was getting all cleaned up I continued to cook. I was making vegetable soup. I plopped the carrots and potatoes into the pot and just a while later the sweet aroma of hot soup flew into the air. The smell crawled up into my nose and I tingled with hunger. I grabbed two bowls and two spoons from the top right drawer. The kitchen wasn't very large; it had white cabinets along the top and bottom. The kitchen also came with a stainless steel stove and oven, but that wasn't why I loved the kitchen. It was the island in the middle. A big square block of smooth black marble, any cooks desire to work here. The kitchen also lacked air ventilation so any smell of food was always strong, which I loved. I could smell everything two times better than a modern kitchen and when the whiff of food was too strong all I had to do was open the window.

By the time I had poured out the soup into two bowls Natalia came rushing down with her hair still wet. Her eyes widened at the soup and yanked the spoon and gulped the soup down. She always made a mess of herself and I always ended up washing twice the amount of clothing a day.

"So are you gonna tell me about the story now grandma?" Natalia asks.

"Yes dear, but first I want you to tell me how your very first basketball practice was today?" I ask her.

"Well…it was great," she tells me. I could easily tell that she wasn't telling me the truth. She kept playing with her fingers and kicking her feet against the marble block.

"What aren't you telling me?" I question.

"Nothing, really, it was fine," she says.

"Is that the truth?" I ask, getting a little bit agitated. "You know you can always tell me anything."

"I know grandma it's just… uh… nothing, well maybe it's nothing… I don't know," Natalia says quite confused. Her cheeks started blushing. "Okay, but promise you won't tell any of my friends okay. I met this guy today and he was really nice… I think I have a small crush on him." Her cheeks went from pink to a tomato; she was telling me the truth.

"Really? What is his name?" I ask.

"His name is Craig and he is from England, he looks pretty good too. So many girls in the school like him now, he's charming." Natalia gazes off into his imaginary image. She puts her arms under her chin and says, "So I don't think I will ever get a chance to be his friend, or more, he only talked to me once."

"Don't worry Nat, I'm sure you will get the chance, oh my little baby is growing up!" I shriek with joy and pull her close to me for a tight squeeze.

"Okay, okay grandma you can stop, so can we get on with the story now?" Natalia begs

"Yes, as you wish princess." I bow at her and take another sip of my soup. "Now where was I, oh yes the party."

So Leila and I were both dolled up and ready for the party, we took a cab to the address on the card and as I expected, a huge mansion. People swarmed from every direction and squeezed through the glazed wooden double doors, her house was absolutely breath taking. Kat seemed rich but I never thought anyone would be 'this' rich. Large windows stretched along the bottom and top of the house, a classic red rooftop and a runway of a garden towards the front door. Roses grew in every corner and of all the colors, red, blue, yellow, white and even black. Towering oak trees surrounded the mansion and gave it a very mystical and mysterious feature. All elements contributed into making the best house I had ever seen. Statues and hedges carved to perfection, dim lights and perfect stereo made the atmosphere even just that much better.

"OMG, have you ever seen a place like this? It is so unbelievable; I get so stunned every time I come here, more amazing each visit," Leila says in awe. I couldn't even reply as my jaws couldn't close nor open. It was just beautiful.

Once we reached the double doors, if you can believe it, there was a doorman dressed in a uniformed black and white tux.

"Invites please ladies." He asks in a stressed out and high pitched voice. We hand him our invites and he lets us enter. The inside was just as breath taking as the view from outside. A royal staircase leading upstairs was right in front of the entrance, giving that princess vibe. Modern and sophisticated technology surrounded the living room where dozens of other people were. A long mahogany dining table filled with drinks, chips, food and everything imaginable and to top it all off a beautiful crystal clear chandelier hung from the ceiling giving off a stunning shimmer against all the artworks and vases along the walls. The house was literally perfection.

Leila and I walk over the treats and pick up some food, delicious. While eating we finally got a glimpse of Kat, she was walking down the staircase like any other princess. She was dress in a sparkling golden dress that had a long tail but was short in the front. Her legs looked like a models walking down a catwalk. She moved slowly as if she was waiting for everyone in the room to have a good look at her. Dramatic music came on and she got and applause. Kat moved like a wave down the staircase with her skin tight dress and flowing curly hair. Her eyes gleamed bright blue and her lips said red. She grabbed a microphone so everyone could hear what the beautiful host had to say.

"Good evening my sexy friends, I hope everyone is having a great time and if you aren't having a good time then, ummm you may leave my mansion." She states with an evil smirk, people applauded. "So there isn't that much left to say except for, let's get this party started!" she yells into the microphone and everyone seemed to be jumping to the beat of the music as it booms out of the speakers.

I didn't know how to dance, I didn't want to dance, I didn't want to make a seen and I definitely didn't want to get embarrassed. Leila was whipping her hair back and forth making a scene and I didn't really want to be making a scene. I was new and I didn't want to get a bad reputation, not when things were going good.

"C'mon let's dance! It's the whole point of a partaaaay!" she shouts as she continues embarrassing herself. She couldn't really dance herself but I could tell she was having fun.

"Haha, ummm not thanks I think I am going to the bathroom, I will be right back," I say as I walk away from her. Really, it was just an excuse to get away. I could feel an invisible crowd of people having their eyes glued onto us, although there wasn't anyone staring.

Once I got to the bathroom I looked into the mirror and told myself, it is time to suck it up and bring out that hidden bravery I have inside me. I need to have fun a little and to let loose. After a small pep talk to myself I walk outside and bump into the host.

"Oooof, oh it's you, funny how we keep bumping into each other," Kat says with an emphasis on the word, bumping. She didn't seem really pleased to have seen me. I still felt bad about what I had done to her on the first day of school. "So are you having fun? Did you meet any guys? Do you want to meet any guys? Is this your first party? Have you even ever had a boyfriend?" she goes on and on about the questions, just trying to annoy me and make her look like a fortune. "I have had at least 10 boyfriends in the past, what, 2 months? They just keep coming like bees. Haha well I want to know more about you and stuff oh wait one sec there's my baby. Jake! Over here babe!" she yells across to another guy. "That's my boyfriend right now, I know hot!" she tells me.

As he approaches Kat goes up to him and lays a kiss on him. I felt so awkward at that moment, I wished I could just shrink of disappear. He was handsome though, gelled up brown hair, muscular biceps, stunning jaw bones and great big brown eyes. He was like a perfect Romeo for Juliet, Kat. Once their lips departed one another, I got a better look at his face, smeared red lip stick and a scar right above his right eye.

"Well, I better get back to my friend." I say awkwardly, trying so desperately to leave.

"You made a friend, that's great who is she? Or he? Whatever!" Kat says joyfully.

"Her names Leila and she is right over there," I point to where Leila was dancing her butt off and giggled a little.

"Leila?" Kat says angrily. "You have got to be kidding me. She is a huge joke, don't hang out with her."

"Why not, I think she is fun and funky, I get to hang out with whomever I what," the brave side inside of me said.

"Excuse me?" Kat says shocked.

"Well I am going to go and get some chips be right back babe." Jake says as he escapes the conversation. I was alone with the princess now.

"You are going to wish you hadn't said that to me. First you dump my coffee all over my favorite outfit, but I gave you a second chance and this is what you do to make it up to me?" she starts yelling and waving her hands like any girly girl would do during a cat fight. "Wow, you have some nerve even showing up to my party with that attitude. Actually you guys should be friends with each other, both of you are perfectly stupid idiots that will never experience pleasure for at least another 10 years. Now look I know that you didn't mean what you said, I mean I like you and all that, so here is one last chance. You can either tell me I am so freaking hot right now and take back what you said or leave to 'she can't dance' over there and have the most horrible year of your life." She points at Leila and stares me deeply in the eyes, "so what is it gonna be shorty."

I definitely didn't want to be with Kat after what she had said, but I didn't want spending my freshman year living in hell. She probably wouldn't do anything though; I mean people are mature here. The warrior inside of me said, "Well after that I don't think there'll be a debate in my head about which to choose, goodbye rich." I say as I strut my way back to Leila. I totally regretted saying that. I should have chosen nicer words. I was just in the zone and I couldn't think of anything else. Even though my heart was pounding with fear, fear that she would strike back at me like the mean girls did in high school. I had never stood up to them before; this was something new to me.

"You are gonna regret that shorty, no doubt," she yells back at me and disappears into the flood of people. Assuming she would forget about everything and just have a good time, I take a drink from the table and drink.

The party seemed to be going pretty well, Leila was certainly enjoying it, I hadn't really danced much. I was too afraid of lurking eyes and of Kat, she just disappeared. At the moment I thought that a guy came up to me. I could easily tell he was drunk, he could barely walk straight and his breath smelt like rotten milk. He kept approaching me, his hair messed up, eyes nearly closing, saliva falling from his mouth and dark red lipstick in all different shades smudged on his face. Somebody was doing something naughty before he reached me. I shut my legs together and wrapped my arms around so that he would take the hint that I am not open for business, but that didn't stop the hungry animal.

"Hey there beautiful, wanna have some of this?" he said as he lifted his shirt, no abs, nothing special, just flab. His breath nearly made me faint, he inched closer and closer.

"Ew no! Get away from me, you sicken the human race!" I said shrugging him away from me.

"Haha, you funny," he chuckled. "I like a girl with humor." He said as he started to push me away from the crowd and onto a wall. He began to slip his hand underneath my dress reaching for me. My heart thumped like the drummer in metal music. My eyes watered like a water fall. My fingers tore at his flesh but his clasp around my thigh was unbreakable. I pushed and pushed him yelling 'STOP IT, GET AWAY, HELP!" nobody helped me though, not a single soul. He grabbed my arm and yanked me into another room, nobody had noticed I had gone, nobody had noticed I was in trouble; nobody had noticed that I needed help. I needed attention. I used all my force to try and free my wrist, it burned red, no blood could reach my hands. My strength had faded; I knew no one would want to help me.

We reached a room and the drunken guy finally let go his grasp and I flew onto the bed. Crawling to only one corner I said, "Why are you doing this to me? I don't even know who you are."

"Heh, does it matter?" he said as he took a chair and put it against the door. I was trapped. "All I need is an ok body and a very vulnerable freshman. You are my lucky pick this year darling, this is going to be fun." He said with a smirk on his face

"What NO!" I yell, but he came closer. "Stay away from me, I am serious! Stop!" I scream at the top on my lungs. Why hadn't there been anyone to save me? The answer is still unknown.

"I don't take orders from a stranger." He said with his knees already on the bed. I yanked my legs towards my chest. I had never been in a situation like this before I didn't know what to do. My makeup was drowned by my out of control taps, I couldn't make it stop.

"Please, please, don't do this, I'll do anything you want, I promise, anything, please." I begged him and tried to negotiate. He stopped. He grabbed my shoe and yanked my leg until I was under him. My whole body was scrambling and struggling to get away from him. I started slapping him and scratching him, the only self-defense that I had. His hands glided along my jaw line and began to travel all the way down my body. His finger tensed my heart. I couldn't hear myself breathe as hard anymore. It was like the moment was too frightening that I wasn't scared anymore. He moved towards the zipper to my dress. As soon as I felt his shrill hands on the side of my torso I closed my eyes waiting for the inevitable.

"Awww, it's no fun when my guinea pig doesn't fight back." He sobbed. "Ok, I'll tell you what, if you do exactly as I say and when I say it I will make sure you won't get harmed, but if you don't let's say this scene would have finished." He said with a burp. "I'm not a bad person, I'm worse than that, do we have a deal?" he asked. I couldn't say no. I scramble back to the corner I was in and just nod. "That's good, well I'm gonna get me some beer! I am so thirsty." He exclaimed. He dissolved back into the crowd of people outside.

Safe, relief, shock and fear, the feelings I couldn't strangle out of my mind. I sat there, I sat there and thought, I sat there and thought about what could have happened tonight but had been prevented. I sat there and I cried. I cried and screamed. Nobody came for me though. Nobody cared about me, but I didn't care, I was safe. I was safe, for now.

I crept out of the room after I tidied myself up. I walked back to where I last saw Leila. She was still having the time of her life. Funny to have people around that don't know what you are feeling. It is funny that people don't have an automatic surge of guilt when they see my face pass by. They don't know but I wished they knew. During my trailing thoughts there was an announcement.

"Good evening my wonderful guests, I have some displeasing news." Kat had finally reappeared. "I know I had said there was going to be a pool party, well there isn't not anymore." The crowd booed at her statement. "Wow, wow there beautiful people, I am not the one that is to blame here." Kat said in defense. "Let me give you a hint, it is because of a freshman that is fake, 'f'ugly, and fat. Take a look around, anyone that resembles those traits?" She looked directly at me with an evil smirk. The whole body of people turned towards Kat's gaze. I was doomed. "Her name is Daniela Palamy." Kat announced cheerfully. I thought the night would be over. In my defense Leila stood in front of me.

"Well, well Kat, I see that you are attacking innocent freshman once again. Or shall I say people who are friends with me?" Leila blurted. "You are still carrying this on? What more can you take from me?"

"I am not stopping until you apologize and not everything is about you Leila. I am only attacking young D because she insulted me, this is my sweet revenge." Kat says while laughing. "Well beautiful people aren't you going to punish the one that has ruined this amazing night?" The crowd cheers. Before I even realized it, I stampede of people grabbed me from my arms and legs and carried me out to the backyard. I struggled to get free, I kicked, I punched, and I even used my head as a weapon. It wasn't good enough though.

"Ok everyone on the count of 5 we say bye to the freshman." A crowd pleaser had said.

"No, no, no, wait stop I can't swim, don't throw me in there." I explain rapidly, my breath rate started increasing.

"She is lying! Throw her in, throw her in, throw her in…" The crowd was rambling and chanting. "1," I was swung in the air and my heart was swung out of me. "2," I yelled and yelled, the people were laughing and chanting. "3," My whole body started shivering. "4," One last swing before my brain explodes, nothing could have been worse. I could hear Leila trying to butt in and stop them. She was too late. "5," I was thrown into the air waving my arms and legs like a spider. 'SPLASH' I plunged into the pool head first. The rush of the chlorine water ran through my nose, my body was squirming but nobody budged. I felt as if my heart was an anchor and was too damaged to have anyone pull it out. I could feel my last breath leave my body and I could hear Leila screaming. I saw my air bubble float to the surface as gravity pulled me down, black out.

"Oh my god granny, what happened to you? Did you get hurt?" Nat asked me sincerely.

"Well I wasn't necessarily hurt externally but internally. It was just so much in one night. It was like a roof of emotions crashed down on me and I was the only victim which didn't make it out. I had never liked swimming, another one of the things that people teased me about in high school."

"Well did you make it out in the end?"

"Of course I did, or else how am I here right now, someone pulled me out, but that is a story for another day." I tell Natalia as she picks up her bowl of soup and scurries back upstairs. So many memories sneaking back into my mind, so many moments I wish to prevent in her life.

Chapter 4

I hadn't told Natalia more of the story since that day; I guessed that I had scared her off. That she no longer wanted to listen to the tales of my life. As she now knows it wasn't cheerful and merry. Although that is so, I do still wish that she would ravish in the story. I thought to myself as I poured myself some ginseng tea to calm my mind.

"Hey, Grams, I know we haven't had much time for you to tell me the rest of your story, it's just that last Saturday was really startling. I didn't know that I was listening to something that included a lot of violence. I don't really like violence you see and I don't want to learn about it. So that's all I have to say, sorry grams."

"I want you to listen to my story though. It has an important message that I want you to learn at the end. I can't simply tell you what the lesson is now because you wouldn't take it seriously. It isn't something that you can just pick up and understand."

"Fine, fine whatever granny let's just get this over with quickly. I have better things to do." Natalia snarled at me. Ever since she has been hanging out with her new friends she had become distant. Fine I replied.

When I woke up, still soaked in my dress, I found myself back in my room. I woke up to see Jamie still asleep in her bed. Her black blanket drooped over her like a cape and almost made her invisible with the low light in the room. I got up and I sauntered to the bathroom. My ears were throbbing as if the night's music hadn't been erased from my minds ipod. It was completely silent besides Jamie's loud breathing. I guessed it was a good thing she breathed loudly. At least I knew she was there.

I flicked the lights on in the bathroom. The bright light scorched my eyes. They hadn't adjusted to the calm light at all. My vision started clearing as I grabbed a towel. I looked into the mirror. My jaw dropped. Half of my head had a coat of paint and puke in it while the other had at least three pieces of gum stuck into it. Leila's dress torn to shreds on my body as if I was homeless. All skin that was visible on me was covered in ink markers, including my face. Pools of tears fell from my eyes. My breath was being sucked from my body as if my lungs were trapped in a chamber of loneliness. I could barely contain the screams of fury bottled up inside of me. I could barely contain my legs from walking to Kat's house and strangling her to death. I could barely contain the appalling image in the mirror, myself.

I turned the hot water on and gradually felt the warmness flow down my ink filled body. The colors spun a rainbow as they disappeared into the drain. As soon as I tilted my head back so my head and hair could feel the warmth my whole body shuttered. I yelled. I could feel myself being drowned once again. Imagination and a nightmare took over my mind. The water stopped flowing through the drain. The glass doors to the shower were glued shut. The water kept rising. I tried to turn the water off but it wouldn't budge. It was up to my knees. I screamed for help. The rising water was at my hips. I kept throwing fists and fists at the glass but it was useless. The water was then at my shoulders. Filled with panic I kicked harder and harder until I began to float. My head hit the top of the shower head and then moved up past it. I was nearly out of air and oxygen. The water poured into my throat. There was no escape, I was drowning.

Suddenly I felt someone tugging at my blanket. I scream at the top of my voice.

"Wow, woman calm down!" Jamie complains as she patted her ears. "You were having a nightmare and I can't fall asleep with that entire stink on you. You stink as hell right now. Go take a shower or I'm going to make you." Her face was clean, no makeup applied. I looked at the clock; it was three in the morning. Panting so hard I replied.

"Oh I'm sorry." I apologized.

"Nahhh, its fine, I'm just not really a three in the morning kind of person, you know what I mean." Jamie said in a sarcastic voice.

"I'll go right away, sorry again." I waited until she was in bed when I didn't go to the bathroom but I went to find Leila.

I found her room, 294. Before I could knock a hand slammed onto my right shoulder. My heart bumped so hard but when I turned around it was Leila.

"Dani? Oh my god, thank you lord!" Leila praised and gave me an enormous hug. "I'm so super-duper sorry, I should have jumped into the pool I should have gone in to save you but the…" I stopped her.

"It's alright, really. Who did help me out though? I don't remember anything once I fell into the pool."

"I don't know. There were so many people, I could see above their heads and once the crowd dispersed there was no one left in the pool. I assumed that you somehow got out by yourself and came back to your dorm." Leila said. Her eyes were red, probably from crying. "My roommate isn't here so let's go in."

We went into the room and she could finally get a better look at me with the light. It wasn't as bad as my nightmare but it was still pretty bad. Leila kept looking at me like I was scary.

"Dani, did you happen to get a tan like three hours ago?" Leila asked.

"What? No I didn't." I rushed to the bathroom and my eyes popped and my hands were thrown to cover my mouth. I was literally orange. I guessed that the people at the party thought it would be a fun joke to spray 'easy tan spray' all over me. I was unevenly sprayed so I looked like a polka dotted lunatic. Not only was I orange but the dress was ruined with puke stains. "Who would do this to me and why would they do this?! If I remember I hadn't done anything wrong since I got to this place." I yell at the mirror.

"Kat, it must had been her." Leila said angrily.

"I hadn't done anything to…" I stopped in my sentence. "Well she did get mad when I mentioned you."

"Well there is a story behind that." Leila says as she flings herself onto the bed. "Kat and I, you see, we are like step sisters. Well we swore that we would always be friends. When we were children we hadn't known our parents since we were born. We got tossed into the foster child care services. It wasn't a very nice experience. That's how Kat and I met, ever since we were kids we would play games and put make up onto each other. One day there was this guy that kept annoying me, he started hitting me but Kat scared him off. She was so brave, considering our age. I owed her something, well that is until some rich parents wanted her. She begged and begged me to help her escape them. She begged me not to let her leave with the strange people she now calls mom and dad. I couldn't get myself to do it. I let her walk out the door without even saying goodbye because I was a coward." Leila confessed. "We somehow found our ways back to each other in high school and now in college. We never got along and even now she has never forgiven me for letting her go."

"Wow, I would have never had guessed that." I told Leila. "But then why did she invite you to her party in the first place?" I asked her.

"I don't know, I think she just wanted to make me see her big mansion and many friends just to get me annoyed. All her tricks never really worked on me because we actually know each other so well. I guess that's why her ideas get sneakier and meaner each time and now she's targeting you to get at me." Leila said with a frustrated tone.

"No I doubt that, people in college should be mature. I bet everything will be fine tomorrow." I said to calm her down, but I knew myself that I was going to be glared at and humiliated for the next couple of days or even weeks.

"Wow grandma, you went through a lot. I mean first you were drowning and now you are being hunted down by a crazy popular girl." Natalia says.

"My sweet child, I want you to know that life can be stimulating but things can change in a moment of weakness. That is why you must keep strong."

"Ok granny, goodnight." Natalia says.

"Goodnight dearie. May we continue the story tomorrow night as well?" I asked.

"Sure. It is actually quite interesting. Sorry I said that stuff earlier." Nat apologized.

"That's alright. Tomorrow the story continues." I said as the lights flicker into blackness.

Chapter 5

"Ok let's continue where we left off shall we." I told Natalia as I just finished blow drying her hair.

I woke up with the sound of a bleeping alarm clock. It had startled me quite a bit. I went to the bathroom to check changed and ready for my classes. I saw myself in the mirror, still as bright as an orange with polka dots. I knew hiding the tan from everyone would make them tease me more so I decided to go out strong with it. I put on a tube top along with black jeans. The normal thing anyone would where. I looked at myself again, my eyes were glowing red, each red vain a memory of the night before. The moment I got Kat mad a whole world of hell fell upon me. I was nearly sexually abused by a crazy man whom I have sworn to do anything for and nearly drowning. Thank god to my mysterious savior or else I don't know where I would be today.

I gathered myself together and opened the door, immediately a flock of pupils were glued to me. I acted like nothing was wrong; I thought I could handle the pressure. No matter where I went people would stare at me. When I walked into the ladies room a group that was chattering would immediately stop, look at me and gossip about me. I hated the rumors and the teasing behind my back. I hated how people were too afraid to ask me why I was orange in the first place.

I had made it through my first and second period without cracking. No one bothered to talk to me and none of the teachers asked me a question at all. I wondered if I really looked that scary. I hadn't seen Kat yet and I was afraid what she might do.

"Hey!" Leila called as she ran up to me, "Let's grab something to chow down."

"Haha, Sure." Leila was the only one who wasn't afraid of me; it was great to have her with me.

Once we reached the sliding doors to the cafeteria I could see hundreds of people just waiting in line. The benches were all white and with the school's mascot, the king of course. The crowns were a sort of pastry color and it only made my stomach grumble even harder. To my left was the hippies, they were all dressed in really trendy outfits. Most of their outfits showed their skin and almost all of them owned a pair of circular glasses, like mine. To the right sat a group of music lovers, with all their instruments strumming playing. I thought that, that would be the perfect group for me, but I never learnt an instrument before. I only loved the music itself, never made it. Next to the hippies were of course the nerds, another group that I could fit into quite easily, besides my orange quality. They were wearing collared t's and doing work or playing games. Strange that only one girl sat with them. Finally the last table I hadn't discussed, the popular kids. I could see them with all the jockeys and girls who had no clue about anything. They were just talking and gossiping probably. Each girl seemed to have a man next to her, some were making out. Amongst the crowd I saw, Kat. She was wearing a bright blue dress; I suppose she thought it would contrast with my skin tone. I was fueled with hate fire. Her blond hair hung from her head like a princess. I only just wanted to cut it off and make her suffer for what she had done to me. I was so angry. I was about to stomp up to her and give her what she had deserved. Leila stopped me and that was wise.

"Don't think about it Dani, it isn't worth it."

"I know, I'd probably lose in a fight with her, never was used to using all those bad words in combat," I said.

"Haha, well I think you would win her in other aspects if that makes you feel any better"

"Thanks Leila, your right, if I want to be the better person in life I have to, you know, be calm and relax and try not to murder someone!" I said jokingly.

"Yep! Ok let's go line up." Leila skipped to the line. We were waiting for quite a long time in the cue. We picked up our trays and the lunch ladies plopped food onto our plates, spaghetti with meatballs was my all-time favorite.

"I'm going to get us some juice ok? We can go sit over there," Leila pointed to a table which was deserted, probably since it was the closest to the trash cans. I nodded and I walked towards our table. That is when she confronted me.

"Well hello there annoying orange, have you ever watched any of his videos? Well yea he's truly is annoying, maybe that's why this color suits you so much."

"Well…" she cut me off by squeezing my lips together.

"You know I never intended of throwing you into the pool during my party, so basically you shouldn't blame me but the rest of the school kay's? and as to your color, I hold a little blame because they were my sprays but I wasn't the applier. I guess you can't really blame me for that. Hmm what other thing am I innocent for?" Kat wondered.

I shook her hand off my lips, "Are you kidding me right now? All of the sudden I was like a red cloth in your bull-like world, being trampled on by your army. It wasn't fun and it was mean, why did you have to do that? Is it really just because of Leila?" I yelled at her. I made a scene and all the other people turned and looked at us. I began to feel scared, with the help of other people of Kat's side I felt as if I was shrinking by their glares.

"How dare you speak of my deceased puppy? Everyone knows coco meant the world to me right everyone!" She said, completely off topic.

"What?" I complained, "I never said that." She was trying to win over the crowd with pity votes, how unbelievable. "I can't stand this anymore."

"You are so terrible to me," Kat started sobbing and sniffling, "What have I ever done to you?" Kat said and walked away. In shock I couldn't understand anything that was happening. One moment it was about Leila and the next a puppy. Things were getting weird.

I turned around to give Kat my seriously perplexed face only to me encountered by her two body guards.

"Hi, we haven't officially met, I'm Krista and this is Amy, we know you as the annoying orange," Krista had pointed out.

"We don't like it when you hurt our best friend, like at all, so you are going to get what you deserve Miss Orange," Amy had said with a smirk on her face.

Still really confused I didn't see their hands reach under my tray of food and flip it onto me. It had happened all too fast for me to react to any of it. The spaghetti had replaced my hair and bundles of them slid down my body. The meatballs fell into my shirt and then out the other end, disgusting. The two girls strutted back to their table.

They ducked under their table and shouted, "FOOD FIGHT!"

Just as I heard the words I looked over to the drinks line, Leila was just coming to the table. Once she saw me I could see a spark in her eyes waiting to ignite a huge flame. She ducked under the nearest table and so did I, except most of the foods were aimed towards me. Tons and tons of food splattered against the walls, it was such a waste considering the starving people in other places. Pounds of food landed on my table and fell on me. Before I knew it I was trapped under piled of spaghetti. The table was covered in spaghetti; it was pretty hard to believe that people who I thought should be mature would do such a thing.

Alone under my pasta shelter I could still hear the sounds of people laughing. I hurled myself into a ball and covered my ears. No tears were able to flow anymore. I had dried them out when Kat tried to drown me. I wanted to hide from everyone and I wanted to escape her. She was too skilled in bullying and hurting people, I didn't stand a chance.

"Wow granny that girl was awfully mean to you for no reason," Natalia said.

"Yea, well she had her reasons, but she shouldn't have projected her anger against Leila towards me."

Chapter 6

I had been under my meatball tent for quite a while before someone found me. When the light pierced through the darkness I saw the figure I feared most, the man that tried to rape me. Immediately I moved as far away as I could have, my breathing became more rapid and my body began to shake.

"What do you want from me now?" I shouted at his face.

"Didn't we have a deal? I need you to do something for me," at the same moment he handed me a laptop. "Do it right now, the instructions are on the inside," and before I knew it he had disappeared.

The laptop was shiny black with a silky texture. Just the touch of it gave me shivers. I flipped it open and turned it on. It was open to a Microsoft word starter. The instructions said:

Don't let anyone know what you are doing, if you let anyone know you know what is going to happen.

Leave to your room and only begin the steps below when alone, no friends, no anything.

Go on to your Facebook page.

Go on to Kat's wall and type the following message,

I didn't want to read any further, I shouldn't let some man blackmail me and tutor me through electronics, but I couldn't risk the possible.

The message read,

'Hey, Kat I know you dislike me and all that stuff but I really want to know what I ever did that ruined our relationship in the first place, forgiveness is always better than violence. I'd like to meet you at the football pitch tomorrow morning at the rise of the sun, we will be able to talk face to face there and settle this.'

Strangely the message related to the situation I was in, in the first place. I kept reading.

If you change any word, any comma, any single detail, I will come and find you.

Go to the destination written and the rest is unknown for now.

That's all I had to do? I asked myself. It didn't seem that hard, after all it was just a gathering with an evil person that has sworn to destroy me.

I crawled out of the spaghetti igloo only to face two men in suits, the vice principal and the actually principal himself. I looked around and noticed that I was the only victim left in the cafeteria. I could see one person though, Leila, she was looking through the windows outside.

The two suits gave me stern looks which were disappointed; I knew that trying to explain would be useless. The man to the left was short and a bit fat; his grey suit only magnified his belly. The man to the right was the total difference to the man to the left, tall, blonde, glasses and a briefcase which he held so tightly.

"Well, well, well what do we have here? Principal Johnson," The short one had said, so I guessed he was the vice principal. I stared at the principal waiting for his response.

"Look around Daniela, what do you see? This place is a mess and it seems that everyone says it was you who started it, is this true?" Principal Johnson asked me.

"It wasn't me!"

"There is no one else here. Who shall I punish for this mess?"

"I swear it was Kat, I didn't do any of this."

"Kat?" The principal had said with concern. "Are you saying that my own daughter, kind and sweet is capable of this kind of chaos?"

"No, sir that isn't what I am implying but ask anyone she started it,"

"We have already asked most of the student body and most fingers point back at you, Ms. Palamy," The vice principal had said.

"What?" I was shocked.

"So your consequences are…"

"No!" I cut him off. "It was your daughter and her friends I swear of it!"

"Excuse me," Mr. Johnson had said quite harshly. "Your punishment is to clean up the cafeteria and you better make sure it is spotless."

"That isn't fair!"

"And after that comment you made towards my daughter you will have two weeks of yard duty, that means picking up trash from students,"

"What? You can't do that," I yelled. They started to walk away from me.

"Watch me," Mr. Johnson had said.

I was so furious, I couldn't think of what I could do to get rid of the stress. I turned to Leila, she was walking towards me.

"Hey, what happened?" She asked me.

"I'm so going to kill that, that." I couldn't think of a word to replace Kat. I hit my head with fists, so annoyed with myself. I let go a long sigh and said, "I have two weeks of yard duty and I have to clean the whole cafeteria, most probably by tomorrow," I looked at my watch, noon.

"That sucks, sorry I wasn't there. I'll help you clean," and at that moment we both grabbed mops and began a very tiring clean up.

Chapter 7

Natalia had just returned from school, "Hey granny, I told some of my friends your story and they were quite interested and they want to hear what happens next, so is it alright if they come in?"

"Of course, they're welcome anytime." I chuckled as Natalia went to open the door. Two girls walked in, both the same height. They both had brown, ginger like hair which hung down to their necks. I assumed they were sisters at my first glance.

"Hi Mrs. Palamy," they said at the same time.

"My name is Wendy and this is my sister Patricia," the one closest to Natalia said.

"Ok, it is nice to meet you all, shall we sit in the living room?" we all walked together and sat in a circle. The children sat in front of my on the floor while I was seated on my rocking chair.

When I returned from the hours and hours of hard labor my arms could barely move from the scrubbing of the walls, my legs could barely stand from all the mopping, but there was still one thing that I had to do before I could end the day. I placed the computer onto my desk; it was at least past seven, so I know that Jamie wouldn't be here. The monitor shined bright in the dark room. I logged onto Facebook and I was prepared to write the message. I was so tempted to change it, I was so tempted to twist that jerks words and to tell her she has hurt me and she is going to get what she deserves. I realized why she was so tall and almighty in school, it was because of her father's position. That was why everyone turned against the low life and unpopular girl, myself, it was because they were afraid of the principal. Actually Kat isn't strong she just has good support. I wanted to find a way to take her power from her and then battle her with equal odds. I typed in the words, 'it's on'. I was so close to pressing the post button but I couldn't. The flashback of the party was terrifying. I was scared once again, I back spaced my words but they stuck in my brain. I quickly wrote down the message that I was originally supposed to write. Shut the laptop and sprang into bed. My eyes closed tight even at only seven; I was looking forward to the next day, ready to face Kat.

The next day I woke up, I put on a pair of skinny black jeans and a white top. I slid on my slippers and started walking towards the football pitch. The air was cool and fresh. I could hear the birds chirping and feel the morning dew drip on my feet as I walked over to the bleachers. I took a seat on row C; I could see the sun rise over the school's flat roof. Light spat at my face and the feeling was amazing. The breeze blew the grass on the field and the rays of the sun settled on my orange skin.

Finally I got a glimpse of a pink t-shirt coming towards the bleachers; she had an army behind her. I stood up and yelled, "Hey I thought this was between the two of us, not the entire school."

She flung her arms in the air as a response, assuming she didn't care what I thought.

"Well, good morning sunshine, I am here for one thing only."

"And what is that? To blame me for something I didn't do?" I accused her. The crowed disagreed with countless boo's.

"Umm, first of all I didn't accuse you, those people did, you can take that problem up with them, not me ok girly?"

"Whatever, what is this one thing you wanted to tell me?"

"Firstly we never had a relationship to begin with, you were just my toy and now everyone's toy, I hope you enjoy your school years here, they aren't going to be fun. Secondly I'm not into girls so back off you 'lesbo', my precious is for my baby only." The crowd cheered at that statement, Kat smirked and continued, "Thirdly violence is always the key, forgiveness sucks, violence is sexy and everyone loves to watch." Again a booming cheer from the crowd, my cheeks turned rosy, she was good at humiliating people. "And lastly I don't dislike you," she said with her fingers quoting the word 'dislike', "I hate you, and you know why? Because you exist in life, maybe you should just disappear; you aren't visible to anyone anyways." That just tore my apart. "That's all," She leaned in to my ear and whispered to me, "If you leave Leila I will spare you, this is settled and my only deal expires in a week." She walked down the steps as the crowd opened a path for her. "Ciao."

She had embarrassed me in front of everyone just because of Leila? That girl was unbelievable. I dedicated my first year to get everyone to see the way that I did and to take her down.

"Oh and my daddy told me to give this to you," Kat threw a neon yellow t-shirt at me. I caught it and read the words, yard duty. "He said you start today at lunch."

I clenched my fists that my nails bit into my skin. I was so mortified I couldn't say anything back to her, not with hundreds of people by her side while I had zero.

Chapter 8

I started poking at garbage during lunch, the stench from the things people ate all put together was disgusting. I wondered how the day so beautiful turned into a nightmare in a matter of seconds. Everyone was staring and laughing as they passed by saying means things about me. I was wearing neon yellow while my skin glowed orange, it couldn't have gotten any worse.

"Hey orange you missed that orange over there!" A random guy pointed at as he passed by. Laughter from the crowd became louder and louder each time another comment was tossed at me. I didn't say anything back at them. I knew they'd only counter my counter. They could deflect anything I threw at them. It got a lot worse when people deliberately threw their rubbish at my feet. Was I a slave to them? Was I really just a toy for entertainment in this school? Was that really my fate? These were all the questions I kept asking myself.

I heard the sound of red stilettoes approaching I stopped what I was doing and I saw her. With her group of friends, having the fun life I am supposed to have. I did have that, when I was with Leila, but she wasn't here. She felt sick and was in her dorm the whole day. I was going to see her later, only if I could survive the wrath of Kat. She walked to me.

"Enjoying your punishment that you so rightly deserve Ms. Orange?" Kat asked.

"You damn well know it wasn't my fault and if you had any goodness in you, you would have stood up for your actions. You should be the one here."

"Oh darling, no need to get feisty with me, I don't bite, although my name sounds like cat, I don't have sharp teeth."

I didn't say anything; I could see her face tighten up without a response.

"Ughh you missed something over there, there, there and there, haha enjoy lunch break, oh and just so you know, nothing rhythms with orange, so you are better off alone, ciao,"

I stayed in silence as she walked away, I just stared at her. Surrounded by laughter I finished my hours. I left back for my dorm only to find something worse.

"What happened that was so much worse granny?"

"Just wait and see."

I turned the laptop on and I saw the page where I had posted the message on Kat's wall. 36 comments, all were cruel and horrid. Things like, 'you're a lesbian', 'orange doesn't suit you', and 'that's great romance posting it online.' I guess that's why Kat was so ruthless today. She was embarrassed by me. I wanted to tell everyone what I felt inside but I didn't, after what I had experienced outside the cafeteria, silence can beat her. The invisibility that I have can block out the pain. I just have to throw out every ounce of care I have and I can beat Kat. A grin widened across my face, I felt good, finally in a long time, and I felt like I could do something right.

The smile faded though, I didn't want to hurt anyone the way that Kat hurt me. I had to figure out a way that would benefit myself and not harm anyone. Finally it hit me; I posted something on the wall under all the hate posts. It hurt to read the things people said about me, but I knew it was just the image that Kat had set up in their minds, they didn't know the real me. The message wrote forgiveness can beat violence, strong simple and straight forward.

"And that my children, is the lesson I wanted to teach from the beginning of the story. No matter what don't give in to the bully or anything intimidating in life. What the best thing to do is to keep strong, don't show your weaknesses and remember that viciousness is never the answer to anything." I told the three kids listening to my story.

"I understand now," Nat told me while the others had nodded, "thanks granny, was this the story of your life? What happened after wards?"

"Yes my dear, this is the story of my life and how I dealt with the events, and what happens afterwards is a story yet to be told."

**The battle between peers begins by broken friendships and emotional pain. Verbal and physical bullying comes in and demolishes Daniela, how does she deal with the humiliation, the pain and Kat? To top it off, a dose of cyber oppression is thrown her way, only at that time she realizes the better method, the method that wins.**

73


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